Tuesday, 9 April 2013

I had not made a bag this year, until today. I think I am well on my way to overcoming my bag-making addiction but I couldn't resist the Locked and Loaded bag pattern from Sara at Sew Sweetness. She has designed a number of great bag patterns over the past couple of months but the locked and loaded was my favourite, partly because it was made up in my favourite Anna Maria-Horner Loulouthi velveteen but mostly because it featured a metal twist lock. I had three of these in my bag hardware drawer but I had never used them, mostly because I wasn't sure how to! Turns out they are really easy to use and look really professional once installed. I am so pleased with how the bag turned out but I think next time I would use a different interfacing. I wanted the bag to be structured and look satchel-like and although I am pleased with the look of the bag I think I prefer my bags to feel squishier.

Close up of twist lock. Actually the eagle eyed among you will have noticed this isn't a twist lock, it just flips up and down but it still looks shiny and professional and is inserted in the same way.

I love how the metal hardware makes the finished bag look so professional.

I would really recommend this pattern and think I might make another one soon - maybe the bag-making addiction isn't quite conquered.

One another note I need some swap advice. I'm doing a swap and my partner (hope she is not reading this) mentioned she would like a Studio Cherie duffel. I bought the pattern and spent ages stalking her on flickr before deciding to make a quilt as you go duffel. I have spent a long time reading blogs of people who have made QAYG duffels and worked out exactly what I was going to do but today I saw on flickr that she has made herself a Studio Cherie duffle!!! It is not QAYG but it is the same pattern. Now I am in a quandry, do I go ahead with the plan and hope she will be happy to have two duffles (I would be but then I am a person with 30+ handmade bags) or should I pick something else to make, keep the pattern and make myself a QAYG duffel at some point in the future (again I feel compelled to state I am a person with 30+ handmade bags). I would appreciate any advice as my own feelings about bags are probably not entirely normal : - )

Monday, 8 April 2013

On Saturday I joined Annie's first ever class over at the Village Haberdashery. The Class was Modern Machine Applique with Julie from Kip and Fig Julie sells the most amazing applique patterns, they are fun, funky and modern and I had such a hard time choosing what design to use on my tea towel. In the end I settled for the apple but I also wished I could make a tea towel with the pear or the strawberry or the butterfly or the cats, basically all of them!

One of the great things about the class was using the fabulous new janome machines in the shop. Trudging across London with a sewing machine on public transport is no fun so it was great to be able to use one of the brand spanking new machines in the shop, they were so easy to use and ran like a dream, it reminded me that I need to get my machine serviced more often (or ever!).

Julie was a great teacher and not only gave us lots of hints and tips but also provided us with detailed booklets full of applique information to take away. I loved doing the applique, even though I had trouble remembering to put the heat and bond on the back of the fabric rather than the front - seriously I did it wrong THREE times in a row, there is something in my brain that cannot work out back to front or mirror image things I just get so confused! Anyhow I managed to get it all stuck on right in the end and then the sewing fun began. This is my finished tea towel

And here it is on the cute stripey ironing board, I do love a craft activity that involves ironing!

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I really loved learning applique and I can see many uses for it in crafting; quilts, bags, children's clothes and pillows. It could be a really fun way of making personalised gifts for friends and family, I see lots of applique in my future.

If you are interested in taking some craft classes check out the classes over at The Village Haberdashery there are lots of great classes coming up, including a modern quilting sampler class with Katy from imagingermonkey.

Thursday, 4 April 2013

I love the Laurie Wisbrun Brrr! Fabric and, after much deliberation, decided to make a second swoon quilt with it. I struggled with my first swoon so I decided to aim to have this done by christmas. I think the snowflakes and bears look festive so I added some little deers from Momo's oh deer line and some pearl bracelets because I love them. I thought I would do one block a month and I wasn't really looking forward to it but I knew I would love the end result. Once I started though something strange happened it was like a massive penny dropped and the blocks all made sense, I made them without thinking too much and didn't have to rip anything out! It was a totally different experience to swoon 1 where I sewed everything the wrong way and made mistakes in every block. I loved making the blocks this time and got into a bit of a routine. Before I knew it the quilt was done. I can't wait to send it off to Debbie to get it quilted. The only problem is that the quilt is so big I can't get a decent picture, here it is (with cat for scale).